Chicken feeder



J. P. REGO.

CHICKEN FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED 00L 2?. 1920.

1 194,543. Patented Jan. 24, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET p i 3. HE

' INVENTOR LZAM Z A TTORNEYS J. P. REGO.

CHICKEN FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT, 21. I920.

1,404,543. ented Jan. 24, 1922.

HhETS-SHEET 2.

/ VENTOR WITNESSES JP 13090 ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES JOSE PATRICIO REGO, OF HONOLULU, TERRITORY OF HAWAII.

CHICKEN FEEDER.

1 464 54 3, Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 24, 1922.

Application filed. October 27, 1920. Serial No. 419,955.

T 0 all to 710m it may concern Be it known that I, J osn PATRICIO Rnso, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chicken Feeders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in chicken feeders, and has for its object to provide a device of the character specified, wherein a casing is provided, and a closure for the same, normally closed, but adapted to be opened by the weight of the fowls as they mount upon a movable platform to approach the feeder.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the feeder,

Figure 2 is a top plan view with the cover opened,

Figures 3 and 4 are sections on the lines 3-3 and 44, respectively of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a partial front view of the closure for the front of the casing,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the supporting arms.

In the present embodiment of the invention, a casing 1 is provided of suitable material, as for instance sheet metal, having the front open and having hinged at the top thereof a cover 2, the said cover being hinged at 3 at the rear of the casing, and having a depending flange for engaging about the top of the casing. Within this casing an auxiliary compartment or bin is formed, the said bin having end walls 4 and a front wall 5, and a bottom wall 6, the rear wall of the bin being the rear wall of thecaslng.

As shown in Figure 3, the wall 5 inclines inwardly toward its lower end, and a portion of the bottom 6 inclines downwardly and the free lower edge of the wall 5 is spaced slighly above the bottom 6 so that the feed within the compartment may flow out between the lower edge of the wall 5 and the bottom.

The front portion of the bottom, that is, that portion in front of the wall 5 is formed into a fiat bottom trough 7, the said trough having a front wall as shown to prevent the escape of the feed which flows into the same from the bin or magazine. The end walls 4 of the bin are spaced apart from the end walls of the casing, and a partition wall 8 is provided at the center of the bin, the said wall being merely a bracing wall and spaced apart from the top of the bin and from the bottom as clearly shown in Figure 3.

The forward edges of the end walls of the casing are extended at their lower ends and at the top of the front wall of the trough 7, and from this point the said walls incline inwardly toward the top of the casing as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4, and the top of the end walls and the front edges are reinforced by forming a seam as shown. In front of the front wall of the trough 7 there is arranged a platform or plate 9 of sheet material, and to this plate near its end there are secured levers 10, the said levers extending well rearwardly of the platform.

Referring to Figure 7, it will be seen that these levers are flat at one end and round at the other, the plate 9 being superposed on the top faces of the flat ends and riveted thereto while the round portions extend rearwardly along opposite sides of the base beams or bars 11 which support the casing, and are pivoted to the said beams or bars as indicated at 12.

The beams or bars are covered on. their outer faces by the lower ends of the ends of the casing, and they extend forwardly beyond the front of the casing a distance corresponding approximately to the width of the plate 9. The arrangement is such that when the plate 9 is depressed in a manner to be presently described, it will rest upon the upper edges of the beams 11.

The front of the casing is normally closed by a sheet 13 of perforate material, as for instance, wire netting of sufficient weight, which has connected therewith at its upper ends and at each side a journal pin 14, the said journal pins being journaled in the end walls of the casing 1, in such manner that the sheet may be swung freely on these journal pins.

The lower end of the sheet has a rod 15 connected therewith, and on each journal pin 14 there is mounted to rock a lever 16. Each of these levers extends farther rearwardly from the journal pin than it does forwardly, and the rear ends of the levers are connected by links 17 with the ends of the rod 15 at the lower endpf the sheet 13. The front ends of the levers'16 are connected by links 18 with the platform 9 near its outer edge.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that the platform 9 has a series of openings near each end, each series extending transversely of the plate for engagement by hooks on the ends of the links 18. The ends of the levers 16 also have series of openings for engagement by the upper ends of the links 17 and 18, and by engaging the links with different openings of the levers and of the plate, the relative position of the parts may be varied. lVith this arrangement, when a fowl steps upon the platform 9, which is normally held in the position shown in Figures 3 and 4, the platform will be depressed, and the depression of the platform swings the lever 16, and the lower end of the screen or sheet 13 is drawn inwardly, giving the fowl access to the food contained therein.

In use, the material to be fed as for instance rain, is arranged within the bin or hopper. Only a limited amount can flow out between the front wall 5 and the bottom, and this flow will be stopped when the trough is filled, it being noted that the front wall of the trough extends above this opening between the front wall 5 and the bottom 6.

Thus a definite amount of feed will always be held in the trough. The fowl can see the grain or other food through the perforate shield 18. Naturally the fowl will step upon the platform in order to reach the food, and the weight of the fowl will swing the shield 13 rearwardly, giving access to the food in the trough.

The space between the upper end of the shield and the top of the casing is closed by a plate 19, and referring to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 it will be seen that the plate 9 has a pair of longitudinally extending ribs 20 on its upper face formed by'bending up the material and serving to strengthen and rigidify the same.

I claimz- A feeder of the class described comprising a casing having a hinged top and an open front, said casing having side portions sloping downwardly and forwardly with the lower edges thereof spaced from the bottom of the casing, the casing having a bin at the bottom provided with a forwardly inclined rear portion and a feed trough in front thereof, end walls spaced from the side walls of the casing and parallel thereto, a front wall extending from the front portion of the casing at the top to the bottom thereof in rear ofthe trough and adjacent to the in clined portion of the bin to permit the feed to discharge into the trough, a screen of perforate material at the open front and having pivots at the sides of the casing spaced from the upper end thereof but at the upper end of the screen, beams supporting the casing and extending outwardly from the bottom thereof, levers pivoted to the sides of the beams, levers pivoted upon the pivots of the screen and extending forwardly and rearward-1y thereof, links connecting the rear arms ofthe levers with the lower end of the screen adj ustably, a platform in front of the trough and mounted upon the levers pivoted'to the sides of the'beams, and links adj ustably connected to the levers at the pivots of the screen and to the platform.

JOSE PATRIOIO REGO. 

